[P2P-F] Universe.city, a global little school pre-launch: Collective mapping of the disciplinary knowledge production in corporate university

Thu Mar 26 15:29:48 CET 2015

Dear friends,

This week several important events are taking place in Tunis.

One is World Social Forum, which has lost long time ago its fame as the
world' unique gathering space for progressive, horizontal, democratic,
left social movements; a movement of movements or network of networks.
It has become a carnival or fair for well funded and coopted NGOs, or
touristic activity for the NGO cadre and hence subjected to criticisms
coming from many social movement activists or advocacy groups that are
engaging in real struggles on the ground, like ours, from around the
world. In the absence of similar space, for the world-gathering of
people's grassroots struggles, two years ago, in 2013 the WSF was
organised in Tunis for the first time; since Tunis has become a symbol
of the new wave of mass uprisings started in 2011. This year as the
second time WSF planned to take place in Tunis, and its opening March
was two days ago (24/3).

In 2013 version of Tunis WSF, some people who involved in 15M uprising
(Indignados) in Spain in 2011, as well as in the Occupy Wall Street (in
US) and the assembles and networks spread globally named Occupy movement
, we did initiate a friendly occupation by creating open spaces and
assemblies for self-organisation within the official WSF and  Tunis city
centre. Which aimed at opening participation to the Tunisian citizens
who could not afford to buy tickets for the forum organised far from
city centre, in the El Manar university campus. This initiative called
Global Square, or OccupyWSF, is taking place in Tunis WSF this year as
well.

Another  important event, again taking place within the WSF, is a new
initiative that was emerged very recently and called Internet Social
Forum, in order to rethink and liberate the Internet, which is becoming
increasingly a monopolised, corporatized, privatised space; or for some
like Jullian Assange even worse than that, it became a dark
'surveillance machine'. One of the events ISF organising is
about rethinking the social forum as it is organised via online on the
Internet.

Though really wanted I couldn't be go to Tunis to support and join the
work, neither to realise the second version of the OccupyWSF (Global
Square), nor the new OccupyInternet initiative. Yet since both ideas are
quite similar; since in a way both relate to the actual and virtual open
spaces and stress their importance for articulation while re-thinking
the social forums and the Internet together, I believe there needs to be
some form of collaboration between these two initiatives taking place in
the same campus but some how disconnected. Hoping that it would
facilitate a networking between the two from a distance, but via
Internet, I did propose and planned an virtual event about practise of
occupation in a study-circle format, where participants brings in not
more then what they already know, put that in a production process.
Event will be a prelaunch of Universe.city project as it is described
below.

What:

15 min. presentation and status update for Universe.city* initiative,
and 45 min. collective 'mapping of the knowledge production processes in
corporate university' in groups, and 30 min. planery exchange on 'How to
Occupy, produce, open, share, and protect the space-time'

*Universe.City is a free and open access platform initiative, empowered
by GNUnion and others. It allows cooperative learning for individuals
and groups by connecting spaces, people and projects within and without
the city(ies). The unconditional empowerment of the disempowered, the
excluded, and the oppressed, solidarity and cooperation between and
within such is our motto. Adopting Fereire's pedagogical approach, as
well as other transformatory, emancipatory perspectives Universe.city
strive for liberating knowledge at the point of production and
distribution from alienation, borders, time, and social class
domination. Universe.city brings together Free / Libre, Open Source
Software (FLOSS) resources for self-learning, such as free access
libraries, torrent depositories, 'How To', DIY, and 'DIWO' guides. We
try to combine these with 'professionally' designed and delivered
online, face to face, one to one, one to many, and many to many courses,
or any other type of educative activities; either gratis or provided in
a framework of emancipatory cooperative exchange. These can be practical
and analytical lectures, study circles, trainings, workshops, strategy
sessions, or otherwise. In a way, all activities serve participants, and
allow them to contribute to the emergence of a cooperative and
solidarity economy at the planetary level, and may even be.. beyond that

When:

Friday 27 March, 12:00-13:30 (CET)
Time zone converter: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

Google Event: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/111495872636087324840/events/cfea4me55uu4jm94g1vqioj0slk

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/480730562077992/

Where:
Prelaunch might be grounded in the Global Square space in World Social
Forum 2015, at University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis
Google map: https://www.google.com/maps?ll=36.812363%2C10.66751&z=10&t=m&hl=nl&gl=TN&mapclient=embed&cid=296010521177257768

In anycase event will be taking place virtually

Live stream via Hangout On Air:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/111495872636087324840/events/cb3eb8uvh4gab8u1ragv9kq6hmk

BigBluebutton Online classroom:  Here is a how to video to be able to
get in an online classroom to follow and participate the event on an
open source remote education system
BigBlueButton:https://youtu.be/lx8NbVDPpoY In case you have a really
good and fast Internet connection it works well and smooth. The system
is set up by Union Solidarity International (usilive.org) and MayFirst
/ People Link (mayfirst.org <http://mayfirst.org/>
<http://mayfirst.org/>), we appreciate a lot that comrades and
colleagues have made these tools accessible for workers and citizens
around the world to organise exchanges and trainings. Note that there
is a small change on the updated website (of usilive.org) where you
could access the meeting room. Now you have to follow the
link:https://usilive.org/talk/ scroll down, add name and password
'123' to enter in the room.

YouTube Video Embed:you can get the embed code from the youtube
video-stream.

Web site for official launch (planned for May in
Amsterdam): http://tinyurl.com/nkgyk24

Twitter: @GNUnion, @OccupyWSF, #GlobalSquare
Email:gnunion at networg.nl

Looking forward to meet tomorrow @12:00 CET
Global and networked solidarity!
Orsan Senalp
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